Ubuntu: Reflections of a South African on Our Common Humanity

A frican values could contribute much to world consciousness, but people in the West misunderstand Africa for many reasons. First, Africa’s traditional culture is inaccessible because most of it is oral rather than written and lived rather than formally communicated in books or journals; it is difŽcult to learn about from a distance. Second, many African political leaders betrayed the philosophical and humanitarianprinciples onwhich African culture is based, and political failures in African countries tend to tarnish the views of many Westerners. Third, people in the West, for whatever reason, receive negative, limited information through themedia; images of ethnic wars, dictatorships, famine, and AIDS predominate, so the potential contribution of African values is often lost. I have chosen to write about the inspiring dimensions of African values that rarely make their way into mainstream US news media. I write because of a strengthening conviction that Africa has something important to contribute to a change of heart needed in the world. This need for change has become clearer in my own mind since September 11; there is no doubt that our world must embrace a sense of interconnectedness as a global community if we are to survive. I share here some personal reections about Africa.1 I seek to articulate some of the beauty and power of ubuntu, an underlying social philosophy of African culture. Ubuntu is the capacity in African culture to express compassion, reciprocity, dignity, harmony, and humanity in the interests of building and maintaining community. Ubuntu calls on us to believe and feel that: